


A Small Cat-astrophe

by Mercy_Rhyne



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Virge is a cat, just a... random fic, that's all you need to know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 19:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12464631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne
Summary: Joan and Talyn notice Thomas has been acting strangely for a few weeks and they try to figure out why





	A Small Cat-astrophe

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on posts from the blogs @askcatvirgil and @catvirgil on tumblr, go check them out!

For a few weeks, Joan and Talyn had noticed something was… off about Thomas. They didn’t know what was wrong, but it was easy to say that he wasn’t behaving normally. 

–

It started a couple of weeks ago, when the trio had just finished shooting a video with the three of them. They had made quite a mess and Joan had stated it was best to immediately clean up the mess they had made and they quickly left to get the vacuum cleaner. Thomas was still talking to Talyn, chuckling about a joke they had made, as Joan entered the room with the vacuum cleaner. As soon as he noticed this, Thomas looked up and eyed the object suspiciously. He continued his conversation with his friend, though he was more on edge than before. Joan approached Thomas and Talyn, plugged the vacuum cleaner into a socket and turned it on. As soon as it turned on and emitted a loud, low buzz, Thomas jumped back, stumbling over his feet as he tried to get away from the devilish device as soon as possible. He fell onto the couch and stopped his movement, keeping his eyes focussed on the hoover.   
“What are you doing?” Talyn asked as a hand shot up to stifle their laughs. Thomas could not respond as he looked at the vacuum cleaner in terror. He could not describe why the thing scared him so much, it just... did. He felt like it was a danger to his and his friends’ safety. But why did he feel that all of a sudden? He didn’t know. He had lived with vacuum cleaners all his life and he had never been afraid of them before, so why did they terrify him all of a sudden? Joan looked at him with a grin as they kept vacuuming the floor.   
“Do you really… really need to do that?” Thomas asked as he shifted his gaze from the hoover to Joan.   
“Unless you want to clean this up later,” Joan stated with a smile. Thomas nodded and looked at the vacuum cleaner again, petrified for a few seconds. But he could handle it right? He was an adult, he could handle a simple vacuum cleaner, right?  
No. He couldn’t. When Joan approached the couch Thomas was still sitting on, the hoover got too close. Thomas got away from the couch as fast as he could, tripping over his own feet. He hurried towards the stairs and quickly announced he would be upstairs before disappearing. He stayed upstairs until Joan had finished vacuuming the room. 

–

The next remarkable event occurred about a week later. Thomas was sitting on the windowsill, looking at the world outside. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining and everyone seemed to be outside. And not just people. Animals too. Thomas was sat on the windowsill, constantly moving his head back and forth, up and down. Joan was sat on the couch behind Thomas. They were supposed to be working on the plans for an upcoming video, but Thomas was constantly distracted. And it annoyed Joan, to say the least. 

“What are you looking at?” they asked eventually, after Thomas had diverted his attention for the tenth time.   
“Birds,” Thomas replied absentmindedly as his eyes noticed a beautiful bluebird, not far from the window. The male gasped as he moved back so he could lay down to study the bird better.   
“We need to work on the video,” Joan reminded their friend with a sigh.   
“Yeah, yeah,” Thomas nodded, not taking his eyes off the bluebird. “we can do that.”  
“Are you sure you won’t get distracted?” Joan asked, eyeing their friend.   
“Yes, I’m sure,” Thomas said, tearing his gaze away from the birds outside, “I can do this.”

It turned out that he could not, in fact, do this. Eventually, Joan had to close the blinds to stop Thomas from stealing glances at the outside world. Then, Thomas sat down on the couch, next to Joan and they could finally discuss the plans for the video. Without the distractions from outside, they finished the plans in no time. 

–

Another thing that struck Joan and Talyn happened when the three went to the park, a few days later. Thomas was still looking at any bird he saw - this caused Talyn and Joan to both grab one of his hands, to make sure he didn’t walk into anything or run after the poor creatures. Then, his eyes focussed on another creature walking by. A cat. As soon as he noticed the animal, Thomas stopped dead in his tracks, ignoring his friends’ comments and questions. He only saw the cat. The man squared his shoulders and hissed. A grown man hissed. At a cat. Joan and Talyn shared a confused glance that was at the same time filled with amusement.   
“Thomas,” Joan started carefully, tugging on Thomas’ arm, “I think we should… leave?”  
Thomas replied by another hiss directed at the feline in front of him. Talyn looked at Joan and gestured with their head to a bench not far away from them. Joan followed their gaze and nodded. Together, they lead Thomas to the bench, but their friend was still trying to get to the cat, but Joan and Talyn managed to hold him back.   
“Dude, what is up with you?” Joan asked when they had all sat down. Thomas seemed to have forgotten about the cat almost immediately after he had taken his eyes off of the animal. “Why did you hiss at that cat?”  
“I don’t know,” Thomas shrugged, “it just... got too close.” He knew it sounded weird, random and like a lame excuse, but it was the truth. Thomas did not know where it came from. That cat was just too close to him, it was invading his personal bubble. And the only action he could think of... was hissing. Thomas didn’t know where that came from either, but he wished he did. If only he knew why he acted like this.

–

The next week, the three friends were hanging out again - when were they not together? - and Talyn had picked up a pen to make a quick note of a video idea they had come up with. As they were writing, Thomas stared at the pen and followed its movements across the paper. He slowly raised his hand and prepared to swat the pen out of Talyn’s hand. He heard Joan’s voice and he was pretty sure he heard his name, but he didn’t pay attention to that. Just before Talyn finished writing, Thomas’ hand shot forwards and smacked the pen. Talyn dropped the pen in surprise and looked up at Thomas.   
“Thomas, what the fuck?” they asked with a surprised chuckle. Thomas shrugged as he lunged for the pen that now lay on the floor.   
“What is going on with you?” Thomas looked up from his uncomfortable position on the floor, the pen clenched between his teeth.   
“I don’t know,” Thomas replied. Of course, he had noticed the change in his behaviour, but he did not know where it came from. But the truth is, he did not feel the urge to find out. He did not feel like he _had_ to find out where this behaviour came from. Talyn reached forwards and removed the pen from Thomas’ mouth - carefully.   
“Just give that to me,” they muttered as they pulled away from Thomas, who resisted and tried to get the pen back. Talyn hurriedly finished their writing before placing the pen on the couch behind them, making sure Thomas could not reach it. However, that did not stop him from trying to get his hands on the pen, even if it meant reaching over Talyn’s lap to do so. Eventually, Thomas managed to get the pen in his hands and he didn’t let go of it until he had lost his interest. 

–

It was then that Joan and Talyn had had enough of it. After a brief discussion, the two thought it was best to summon Thomas' sides to see if they had any idea what was going on in that mind of his. They mentioned this to Thomas, who quickly agreed. He, too, wanted to know the reason behind his behaviour and calling the sides _did_ sound like a good idea.   
The three of them were sat in Thomas' living room when he called the sides. And soon enough, they appeared. Or actually, _three of them_ appeared. Virgil seemed to be missing.   
"Hey, kiddos," Patton smiled at the three in front of him. "What's going on? It sounded purrgent- _urgent_. It sounded urgent.”   
"Yeah..." Joan responded with a nod, "we- Thomas has been acting weird lately and- where's Virgil?"  
"In his room," Roman quickly replied, "he- he hasn't been out much."  
“Can we summon him?” Talyn asked.   
“I... I don’t think he’s in the mood,” Roman said. He was clearly hiding something. “He has barely talked to us in the past few weeks. I don’t think he’ll... want to talk to you either.”  
“We can go to his room to check,” Joan suggested. No one noticed that, as they were talking, Thomas moved his position on the couch so he was sitting behind Patton, his eyes trained on the cardigan the side wore around his shoulders.   
“Why do you want to ask Virgil so desperately?” Logan asked, as he noticed the helpless look in Roman’s eyes. “I believe we can help you out with your problem.”  
"Okay... well... do you know why Thomas has been acting like... this?" Joan gestured to their friend, who sat on the couch, silently studying Patton’s grey cardigan.   
"Well..." Logan started.   
"We have no idea," Roman quickly interrupted, glaring at the logical side. "We have no idea but.. .we'll try to figure it out, alright? Great!" He prepared to sink out again, but was stopped by Talyn.  
"You know something," they stated as they got up and approached Roman.   
"I know nothing-" The prince was interrupted by a chuckle from Patton as Thomas softly hit the cardigan, quickly pulling his hand away as if he was scared the piece of clothing would bite him.  
"Patton, could you... focus?" Logan asked. Patton looked up at the logical side and nodded, though he still glanced at Thomas every once in a while, moving around, just to watch the man try to catch the piece of clothing. 

Meanwhile, Talyn was glaring at Roman, trying to get him to confess what he knew. It only made them look more adorable, but eventually the tension got too much for the creative side.   
"Fine," he sighed eventually, "it's... _my fault_."  
This was odd. Not only did Roman - the ego - confess he made a mistake, he also admitted something went wrong. And it was his fault. No one spoke as they waited for Roman to continue. Thomas continued hitting Patton's cardigan. Logan sent a glare in Roman’s direction. The prince only shrugged and looked away.   
"We all went on a quest in the dreamscape," Roman explained, not looking at Talyn or Joan, "and we... we lost Virgil. He wandered off and got too close to the Dragonwitch's lair and he... got turned into a cat."  
"What?" Both Joan and Talyn looked at Roman in disbelief.   
"Not a real cat, though," he quickly corrected himself. "He looks normal, he just... has little ears and a tail... and he acts like a cat, too. But we are trying to find a solution!"  
"That does explain Thomas' behaviour..." Joan noted, looking at their friend, who now bit the grey cardigan. Talyn followed their gaze and Thomas, who noticed his two friends staring at them, quickly released Patton’s cardigan from his grip.   
“What?” he asked, sitting down on the couch again, trying to pretend that he didn’t just have a piece of clothing in his mouth.   
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Joan asked, turning their attention back to the three sides.   
“We were trying to find a solution,” Roman justified, “we just... didn’t want you to find out.”  
“How were we supposed to not find out when Thomas acts like a cat himself?”  
“I must admit that we did not foresee that happening,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses, “we had reasoned that, as Virgil embodies Thomas’ anxiety, his fears might be more... cat-like. But we had never thought it would affect his general behaviour too.”  
“Do you think he likes being pet?” Patton asked suddenly, looking at Thomas. The man had missed a significant part of the conversation due to his focus on Patton’s cardigan and he looked up in surprise.   
“What? Seriously guys, what’s going on? Why would you ask if I-”  
“Have you found a solution yet?” Joan asked, ignoring Thomas’ confused questions. “Can’t you go back into the dreamscape and find the Dragonwitch?”  
“Yeaah... that’s the problem,” Roman said, “they won’t undo the spell so we’ll have to find the solution ourselves.”  
“How successful are you?”   
“Not very...”  
Joan sighed and looked at Thomas, who was still sending the others confused looks.   
“What’s going on?” Talyn explained the situation to their friend, who was trying his best not to get distracted by Logan’s tie as he listened to the explanation. Before he could answer, however, a black and purple ball of floof popped up out of nowhere, meowing loudly, and rushed towards Patton, hiding behind his legs. His dark purple tail was bristled. He did, indeed still look like Virgil, just much, much smaller. Patton smiled and picked the small side up. Virgil hid his face in the crook of Patton’s neck and you could almost see him shaking. Patton softly stroked his head and back until Virgil calmed down and eventually, he even started purring. Thomas, Joan and Talyn looked at the scene in confusion as the three sides discussed what could have startled Virgil and who was to blame for it. 

Halfway through the sides’ discussion, Virgil carefully headbutted Patton, making the moral side chuckle. Patton smiled and softly started talking to the cat-like side in a high voice, until Virgil softly hit him in the face, trying to shut him up. He almost knocked Patton’s glasses off in the process.    
“I think we should take him back to the mindscape, Patton,” Roman suggested as he turned to the fatherly side, who was still staring at Virgil with a fond smile. He softly bounced him around. Virgil headbutted Patton again, evoking a small chuckle.   
“That would seem like the best action for us,” Logan nodded.   
Meanwhile, Joan, Thomas and Talyn all looked at each other and Patton carrying the Virgil cat in confusion. They still couldn’t grasp the idea that Virgil was a cat. Or he acted like a cat, at least. Or whatever was going on. It was weird.   
Virgil had managed to wrestly himself out of Patton’s grasp and gracefully landed on the floor. He jumped on the couch and stepped onto Thomas’ lap.  
“But what are we going to do with this?” Joan asked as they glanced at Virgil, who had laid down on Thomas lap and was clutching on to said man’s arm with his tiny hands. “As long as Virgil remains like this, Thomas will not stop acting like... half a cat.”  
“I am afraid that you will have to tolerate the consequences until we will have found a suitable solution to this problem,” Logan said. “However, I have no idea how long that will take.”  
“So, it could be months,” Thomas concluded as he petted a content Virgil with his free hand. It still felt so weird to him. One of his sides was turned into a cat - or a half cat - and was laying on his lap at that very moment. It felt weird, petting Virgil. Especially since he knew it was one of his sides and especially because Virgil had kept his normal body. It all felt surreal to him.   
“In theory, yes, it could.” Logan’s voice pulled Thomas out of his thoughts and he looked at the logical side with a smile. “But I hope that will not be the case.”  
“So, we are supposed to... deal with it and Thomas will still just act like a cat himself?” Joan inquired.   
“Unless you have an idea to undo this spell, then yes. There is nothing else we can do about this.”

A short conversation followed, mostly concerning the effects Virgil’s cat mind had on Thomas and what they could do to deal with it the best they could. But when all of that was settled, the sides agreed that they had to go back to the mindscape, to try to find a solution for their little problem. Patton moved to the couch and tried to pick up the now sleeping Virgil without waking him. However, his plan failed. Virgil let out a sleepy meow as Patton took him in his arms. But as soon as he had made himself comfortable, the cat-like side continued his nap again.   
“We will try to find a solution as soon as possible,” Patton promised as he looked at the sleeping Virgil. “But we should really go now.”   
“I understand,” Thomas smiled back at Patton as he lifted his gaze to look at Thomas. “Thanks for... the effort.”   
“No problem, kiddo,” Patton responded, “you good luck with your paw-roblem.” And with those words, he and Virgil sunk out, quickly followed by Logan and Roman, after the two sides had said their goodbyes as well. 

And so the three were alone again. After just having found out that Thomas’ anxiety was a cat, all because he wandered off too far in the wrong direction. It felt too surreal to be true, but all three had witnessed the same thing. They knew it was true. And there was nothing they could do. Just waiting. 


End file.
